Pornography

(An Open Conversation)

The average age children are exposed to pornography in the UK is 11 years old. 90% of young people aged 8 – 16 have watched porn online. It’s time we had a conversation with young people about porn.

Pornography is more widespread and accessible than it has ever been at any other time in history. Its content is also increasingly more extreme and often violent. There is also a wealth of scientific research and information about the harmful effects of pornography that can be used to educate, inform and empower young people.

Over the course of the presentation Isla aims to deconstruct common myths about pornography and equip young people with the information to make educated and intelligent decisions about the way they interact with porn, setting it in the context of an investment in their future relationships and sex lives. By making the talk interactive and allowing plenty of space for the input of the students, Isla aims to give the presentation more of the flavour of a discussion than a lecture.

Isla’s talk will discuss the following areas:

How pornography has developed

How it affects the mind and can lead to addiction

How it increases our objectification of others

How it can affect our self esteem

How it can harm relationships

How it can harm our expectations of sex

How it can lead to a less satisfying sex life

The ethics of porn

The conversation then proceeds to explore important ideas about consent, communication and intimacy which are predominantly absent in porn and aims to put forward a positive view of safe, consensual and communicative sex as a joy and responsibility.

Isla tailors this talk to be age appropriate depending on the year group and the presentation can be made suitable for any year group ages 13+.

“Isla manages to present such a sensitive, personal, private topic with such dignity and eloquence that all senior students locked in to her speech from the outset. She combines humour and good judgment with accurate statistics and evidence to convince her listeners of the severity of the impact of pornography on the human brain, body and society as a whole.” – Epsom College

Isla van Tricht was educated at York University and RADA. She is also a playwright whose work has been produced in London, Edinburgh and New York.